Comb



July 26, 1938.

O. B. CARSON COMB Filed Feb. 3, 1938 Patented July 26, 1938 UNITED STATES COMB Oswald B. Carson, Scarsdale, N.Y., assignor .to American Hard Rubber Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 3, 1938, Serial No. 188,423

3 Claims.

The invention relates to an improvement in combs, and more particularly in combs especially adapted for use by barbers and hairdressers.

Such combs in their usual form comprise an elongated, substantially flat back and a group or bank of teeth projecting outwardly from the inner edge of the back and in alinement therewith. The teeth may all be of the same size, or they may be substantially one-half relatively coarse and the other half relatively fine. In depth or width and in thickness the back tapers from the coarse-teeth end of the comb to the fine-teeth end. The teeth decrease progressively in length from the outer end of the bank of coarse teeth to the outer end of the bank of fine teeth, so that usually the coarse-teeth end of the comb is about twice the width of the fineteeth end. And usually the sides of the back and the sides of the bank of teeth are fiat and taper from the outer edge of the back to the points of the teeth.

In using a comb of this description in trimming the hair about the ears or the back of the neck, the barber or hairdresser holds the comb in his left hand with the teeth pointing upwardly at an angle toward the side of the head or to- Ward the back of the neck and pushes the teeth through the hair until their ends reach the scalp. The comb is then lifted to cause the hair to project through the spaces between the teeth. The projecting hairs are cut by bringing the shears held in the right hand down against the front or outer side of the comb and closing the shears. The length of the hairs after cutting depends partly upon the coarseness or thickness of the teeth of the comb, partly upon the angle at which the comb is held to the head, and partly upon how close to the outer side of the comb the cutting edges of the shears are when closed upon the projecting hairs. Thus the cutting or trimming of the hair at the places in question is largely dependent on the judgment or skill of the individual barber or hairdresser, as well as upon the construction of the comb. Moreover, since the outer face or side of the comb is substantially flat and the cutting edges of the blades of the shears are at least the thickness of a blade away from the face of the comb, the projecting ends of the hair cannot be cut flush with the outer face of the comb. Hence, with barber combs as heretofore constructed, it is not possible to trim the hair at certain points as close to the head as may be desired.

One object of the invention is to provide a barber or hairdressers comb of such construction as to facilitate a more rapid and accurate cutting or trimming of the hair at desired points on the head than by the use of such combs as heretofore constructed. Another object of the invention is to produce a comb of such construction that the shears'of the barber or hairdresser may cutthe hairs projecting through the teeth of the combsubstantially flush with the outer face of the comb, thereby enabling the operator to cut the hair at certain points on the head, as around the ears and on the nape of the neck, closer than can be accomplished with the use of combs as heretofore constructed. To these ends the invention consists in the improved comb hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved comb; Fig. 2 isa top view of the comb shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a transverse section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and Fig. 5 is a transverse section taken on the line 5--5 of Fig. l.

The improved comb as illustrated comprises a back or quill portion, generally indicated at In, a bank or group of relatively coarse teeth 6, a bank or group of relatively fine teeth 1, and two heavy guard teeth 8 and 9 at the ends of the comb. The two groups of teeth 8 and l and the guard teeth 8 and 9 all lie in substantially the same plane. The back In of the comb tapers in width, that is, in height, viewing Fig. 1, from the left hand or coarse-teeth end of the comb to the right hand or fine-teeth end of the comb. And in like manner the thickness of the back 10 tapers from the coarse-teeth end of the comb to the fine-teeth end of the comb, as will be readily understood by comparing the section of the coarse-teeth end of the comb shown in Fig. 3 with the section of the fine-teeth end of the comb shown in Fig. 5.

The bank or group of coarse teeth 6 and the bank or group of fine teeth I are both of substantially the same length (longitudinal), and all the teeth project outwardly from the inner edge ll of the back. The whole row or bank of both coarse and fine teeth tapers in width or height (that is, length of teeth) from the left hand end of the comb to the right hand end, so that the coarse teeth near the left hand end of the comb are the longest and the fine teeth at the right hand end of the comb are the shortest, whereas the coarse and fine teeth at the middle of the comb are of substantially the same length. Also the teeth taper in thickness from the left hand end of the comb to the right hand end,

as will be seen by comparing Fig. 3 with Fig. 5..

In like manner the guard tooth 8 is longer, wider and thicker than the guard tooth 9.

During the trimming of the hair around the ears or at the back of the neck using combs as heretofore constructed, the operator holds the comb with the teeth pointing upward, as shown in Fig. 1, and at an angle to the head. That face or side of the comb which is presented toward the head is termed the rear face or side and that face or side against which the shears of the barber operates is termed the front or outer face or side.-

The description thus far is that of a comb of usual construction. The invention consists in arranging the rear side of each bank of teeth at an obtuse angle with the rear side of the corresponding part of the back of the comb, as indicated in Figs. 3 and 5, and having the front or outer face of each bank of teeth form a flattened bevel or reflex angle with the outer or front face of the back of the comb, the line of the apex of the bevel or reflex angle lying coincidently with the inner edge I I of the comb back, that is to say, with the line passing through the bases of the teeth. Thus at the base of the teeth, the front face of the back is deflected at a flat reflex angle from the front face or side of each bank of teeth, with the result that when either end of the comb is in use and has been pushed upwardly through the hair, the longitudinal ridge l2 constituting the line of juncture between the front face of the bank of teeth and the corresponding part of the back acts as a guide for the cutting edges of the blades of the shears in cutting the hairs which lie against the bases of the spaces between the teeth and protude outwardly at right angles thereto, thereby facilitating the cutting of the hair. Moreover, the fiat portions or cutting edges of the blades of the shears lie approximately in the plane of the front face of the bank of teeth, with the result that the hair may be cut approximately in the plane of the front face of the bank of teeth, and flush with the line constituting the apex of the bevel.

These characteristics of the improved comb will be apparent from a consideration of the top plan shown in Fig. 2, taken in connection with the sections shown in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. The angular relation between the inner side I of the bank of teeth and the inner side 15 of the corresponding part of the back of the comb is such that when these two portions of the comb are brought into contact with the hair at the side of the head or at the back of the neck, the outer face or side l6 of the bank of teeth will be at substantially the proper angle with respect to the side of the head or the back of the neck to assure the desired close trimmin of the hair at these points. In this connection it will be obvious that the inner faces l4 and i5 of the comb may be flat or linear, whereas the outer face l6 of the bank of teeth and the outer face I! of the corresponding part of the back of the comb are substantially flat and straight. It is not necessary of course that the outer face I! of the back of the comb be fiat and straight like the outer face l6 of the bank of teeth, since in the latter case the cutting of the hair is facilitated by pressing the fiat surface of the beveled cutting edge of the upper blade of the shears into contact with the outer face I6 of the bank of teeth. By thus arranging the inner side of each bank of teeth and the corresponding part of the back of the comb at an obtuse angle, it is simply necessary for the operator to place the comb directly against the hair to be cut and move it upwardly without determining at what angle he should hold the comb with respect to that part of the head he is operating upon. In

this connection it will be understood that it is not necessary that the whole of the inner side of the bank of teeth and the corresponding part of the back of the comb should be in contact with the hair, but only the marginal part of the rear side of the bank of teeth, indicated at H], and the marginal part of the rear side of the back, as indicated at 20.

The comb is usually held in the left hand of the barber and the shears in the right hand. In the position of the comb shown in Fig. 1 the right hand end of the comb, that is to say, the fineteeth end of the comb, is in position for use, consequently, the corresponding portion of the back is bent away from the observer toward the head, as indicated at 2|. Now if it is desired to use the coarse teeth, the comb is reversed in the left hand and in that case the part of the back corresponding to the coarse teeth, and indicated at 23 in Fig. 2, will slope from the user toward the head of the subject. The fact that that portion of the back corresponding to the bank of fine teeth is bent or sloped in one direction to form a reflex angle with the outer side of the bank of fine teeth, and that the portion of the back corresponding to the bank of coarse teeth is sloped in the opposite direction to form an obtuse angle with the outer side of the bank of coarse teeth, results in the two portions of the back forming a propeller-like twist at their inner ends indicated at 22 where they join at the point corresponding to the meeting of the inner ends of the banks of coarse and fine teeth.

I claim:

1. A comb of the character described, comprising an elongated back having a front side and a rear hair-contacting side, and a flat bank of alined teeth projecting from the inner edge of said back, and having a front side and a rear haircontacting side, the rear side of the back and the rear side of the bank of teeth forming an angle between them, the front side of the back and the front side of the bank of teeth forming a reflex angle terminating as a ridge in line with the bases of the teeth, and the margins of both the rear side of the back and the rear side of the bank of teeth being adapted to be brought against the hair during the cutting operation.

2. A comb of the character described, comprising an elongated back having a straight inner edge, and a bank of relatively coarse teeth and a bank of relatively fine teeth projecting outwardly from the inner edge of said back, said teeth being in longitudinal alinement, the part of the back adjacent the coarse teeth being bent in one direction to form a reflex angle with the outer side of the bank of coarse teeth, and the other part of the back being bent in the opposite direction to form a reflex angle with the opposite outer side of the bank of fine teeth.

3. A comb of the character described, comprising an elongated back of greater width than thickness, and a bank of teeth of greater length than thickness projecting outwardly from the inner edge of the back, the back and the bank of teeth forming an obtuse angle on one side and meeting in the apex of a reflex angle on the other side at the point where the teeth project from the back, the margins of the rear faces of back and of the bank of teeth being adapted to be brought against the hair during the cutting operation.

OSWALD B. CARSON. 

